Hostess Brands News: Twinkies, DingDongs to Return to Store Shelves on July 15
Hostess announced that it plans to have Twinkies and other snack cakes back on retailers' shelves beginning July 15.
The Dallas-based company Hostess Brands LLC went bankrupt in November after discord with its unionized workers could not be resolved and approximately 18,000 workers lost their jobs as a result. The company was then bought by two private equity firms.
Upon the announcement the company was declaring bankruptcy last year, stores sold out of the popular snack cakes within hours.
Hostess plans to return Twinkies and other popular snack cakes such as CupCakes and DingDongs to store shelves as of July 15. The boxes will be printed with the tag line "The Sweetest Comeback In The History Of Ever," Hostess said.
Hostess will do things differently this time around. The company will now deliver to warehouses that supply retailers instead of directly to stores, said Rich Seban, the president of Hostess. This new approach will enable the company to expand its reach and will make it possible to have the popular products delivered to nearly any convenience store in the U.S.
Hostess was only able to reach about a third of the country's 150,000 convenience stores before, Seban said.
The headquarters were moved from Texas to Kansas City, Mo., and prroduction was scaled down from 11 bakeries to four - one in Georgia, Kansas, Illinois and Indiana.
Prices for the snack cakes will remain the same, according to Seban. A box of 10 Twinkies will cost $3.99.
Seban said different textures and flavors could be introduced in Hostess products. He also said the company is exploring addressing different diet trends with their products, such as gluten-free, low sugar and low sodium cakes.
